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Pliny The Elder
Russian River Brewing Company
- From:
- Russian River Brewing Company
- California, United States
- Style:
- Imperial IPA
Ranked #3 - ABV:
- 8%
- Score:
- 100
Ranked #35 - Avg:
- 4.64 | pDev: 7.76%
- Reviews:
- 3,966
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Yesterday at 05:37 AM
- Added:
- Aug 24, 2003
- Wants:
- 7,647
- Gots:
- 4,833
SCORE
100
World-Class
100
World-Class
Pliny the Elder is brewed with Amarillo, Centennial, CTZ, and Simcoe hops. It is well-balanced with malt, hops, and alcohol, slightly bitter with a fresh hop aroma of floral, citrus, and pine. Best enjoyed FRESH! That is why we make it in such limited supply. Actual bottling date is printed on each bottle!
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Greywulfken:
Reviewed by Greywulfken from New York
4.75/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.75/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Bottled on 5/27/13
A: into a tulip, clear deep gold beer with a few fingers of dense, off-white head; some lacing clung to the glass
S: rich bouquet of hops, from piney to citric, herbal to floral; suggestions of sweet vanilla and honeyed malts underneath
T: more complex than most DIPAs I can recall - sweet and grainy malts suggesting juicy fruits, both orchard and tropical, met with a bevy of hops, bringing grapefruit pith, pine resin, lemon zest, and musk to the fore; bright, yeasty (?) tang and bitter, drying finish
M: medium-light body, very crisp and clean, slight chew, slight zing, bittersweet finish
O: well-deserving of its rank - an epic DIPA. A different vibe than, say a Heady Topper, and certainly not inferior.
Jun 18, 2013A: into a tulip, clear deep gold beer with a few fingers of dense, off-white head; some lacing clung to the glass
S: rich bouquet of hops, from piney to citric, herbal to floral; suggestions of sweet vanilla and honeyed malts underneath
T: more complex than most DIPAs I can recall - sweet and grainy malts suggesting juicy fruits, both orchard and tropical, met with a bevy of hops, bringing grapefruit pith, pine resin, lemon zest, and musk to the fore; bright, yeasty (?) tang and bitter, drying finish
M: medium-light body, very crisp and clean, slight chew, slight zing, bittersweet finish
O: well-deserving of its rank - an epic DIPA. A different vibe than, say a Heady Topper, and certainly not inferior.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by TheAwkwardBanana from Washington
4.58/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
4.58/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
This beer is the most drinkable imperial I've had. Not a heavy, malty IPA with bad mouthfeel for once, but refreshing and clean. Dry-ish finish. Nice balance of fruit/citrus with pine. Dangerously good, I feel lucky to find it at my local bottle shop in Washington.
Monday at 02:08 PM
Reviewed by LifesAnesthesia from Virginia
4.68/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
4.68/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
L - light yellow golden with a ton of clarity, a white head that dissipates quickly leaving behind a thin cap and a good amount of lacing
S - Bright, floral piney hops along with notes of citrus zest
T - Follows the nose: bright, fresh, floral, pine, slightly bitter hops up front and throughout intermixed well with notes of citrus - candied grapefruit, orange zest - cracker malt, a little bit of honey, grass notes
F - light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation - bright, fresh, crispy - very clean
O - one of the benchmarks for the West Coast IPA style. Incredibly well balanced and easy to drink. Glad to have finally gotten my hands on it
Sep 17, 2023S - Bright, floral piney hops along with notes of citrus zest
T - Follows the nose: bright, fresh, floral, pine, slightly bitter hops up front and throughout intermixed well with notes of citrus - candied grapefruit, orange zest - cracker malt, a little bit of honey, grass notes
F - light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation - bright, fresh, crispy - very clean
O - one of the benchmarks for the West Coast IPA style. Incredibly well balanced and easy to drink. Glad to have finally gotten my hands on it
Rated by speaking_for_trees from Vermont
4.23/5 rDev -8.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.23/5 rDev -8.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Solid.
Sep 14, 2023
Reviewed by buschbeer from Ohio
4.25/5 rDev -8.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev -8.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Served in an imperial nonic pint glass
This beer pours a golden hue and is topped with a couple inches of off-white head that leaves nice lacing.
It has a real nice fruity citrus aroma. I get a little pine.
Nice balance of citrus and pine flavors. A little bit of lingering resin in the finish
Very good IIPA. It's one of the pioneers. As with all trailblazers newer and better beers come along. I live in Ohio and am very happy that I can drink Hop Juju. Someday it, too, will be a trailblazer in the rear-view mirror of my lifelong beer trek.
Sep 01, 2023This beer pours a golden hue and is topped with a couple inches of off-white head that leaves nice lacing.
It has a real nice fruity citrus aroma. I get a little pine.
Nice balance of citrus and pine flavors. A little bit of lingering resin in the finish
Very good IIPA. It's one of the pioneers. As with all trailblazers newer and better beers come along. I live in Ohio and am very happy that I can drink Hop Juju. Someday it, too, will be a trailblazer in the rear-view mirror of my lifelong beer trek.
Reviewed by Flyguy55 from California
5/5 rDev +7.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
5/5 rDev +7.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Pliny is really difficult to find in Southern Cal but I finally tried one for the first time at the Russian River brew pub in Santa Rosa. It was on tap so super fresh. I think it is probably the most well balanced DIPA I ever tried. I now understand the hype!
Jul 30, 2023
Rated by jbolger from Connecticut
4.62/5 rDev -0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.62/5 rDev -0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
An excellent brew. Without taking anything away from Pliny, I prefer Heady Topper & Sip of Sunshine.
Jul 16, 2023
Pliny The Elder from Russian River Brewing Company
Beer rating:
100 out of
100 with
15663 ratings
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